Art Museum Part 2

Today I thought we should take my niece and nephew to the Delaware Art Museum to see the exhibit of over 60 original Dinotopia works by illustrator James Gurney. I went in knowing about the books and art but I hadn't read the books and dinosaurs, while interesting, aren't really my cup of tea. Well, we were completely blown away by this show - completely. Gurney's imagination and painting skill is absolutely incredible. I felt like the picture frames were windows and I was looking through to another world. His handling of light, shadow and color were brilliant and I really loved the character and personality he gave to the dinosaurs. If you live anywhere near Delaware, please do yourself (and your kids, if you have them) a favor and go see this show which runs through May 16th. I can't wait to read the books now!

After viewing Dinotopia, we walked the rest of the museum and I snapped a few photos of some of my favorite paintings of the day. Click on each painting for a larger image.

This Howard Pyle mermaid painting was a big hit with everyone!

A huge painting made to look like stained glass. Sorry, I don't recall the artist.

A small painting created by an illustrator for a book or magazine.
I love the Pegasus.

The greyhounds are great aren't they? Painting by Thomas Wilmer Dewing.

This George Inness painting, "Early Autumn - Monclair", painted in 1891, really drew me in. I could look at that one all day.

The Unicorn Tapestries

Some of my favorite medieval art images come from the famous Unicorn Tapestries.
It is thought that they were created in the southern area of The Netherlands between 1495 and 1505. They were owned by the La Rochefoucauld family of France for several centuries until they were purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1922 for around a million dollars (what a bargain). For a few years now I have wanted to visit The Cloisters in Manhattan, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses their medieval art collection. The Unicorn Tapestries hang in The Cloisters so I really do need to get myself up there one of these day soon!

If you're a fan of the Harry Potter movies series, you've probably recognized several unicorn tapestries hanging in the Gryffindor common room. I felt inspired to create a welcome sign this week for anyone like me who enjoys things a bit magical and medieval! If you're interested, my original, hand painted plaque is currently for sale on Ebay.

Winter

With my husband off from school I've been able to get some work done. Just completed two winter welcome signs. One is of a gorgeous grey Arabian. The other is a magical winter unicorn (I think he looks so handsome and regal). Hope to have them on ebay tonight so please check back!
I also received in the mail something very special to paint. It is small and will be affordable and you can wear it (not a pendant). I have 3 of them started and will be listing some of them on Etsy by the weekend. I can't wait!!! I think they will be a lot of fun. May have to keep one for myself:)

Also wanted to add that you can follow me on Twitter now. I will be adding updates frequently.

The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn was a pretty neat movie back in the 80's when I was a kid. I decided to put the dvd in and show my 3 year old daughter the other day and she quickly lost interest. I guess it can't compete with today's computer animated movies like Toy Story and Wall-E.

What this post is really about is my last holiday sign of 2008. I was asked by a few people to paint another "Believe" unicorn sign and since I was without the child today and the snow was falling and I was listening to my newly created, super cool Christmas playlist (look to the right and hit the play button), I decided to comply with their wishes.
I also finished a winter welcome Dutch bunny sign. Since I was in such a good mood, I started that one out on ebay with no reserve. Yes, that's right, the bidding starts at one cent!

Both of these signs end on Friday so if the high bidder pays promptly I will get them in the mail on Saturday. Plenty of time to have them hanging for Christmas or wrapped up and under the tree for someone special.